Khanh Hoa travel firm prepares to welcome back Japanese, South Korean tourists

Le Van Nghia, director of Khanh Hoa-based Nhat Minh Tourism JSC, told VnExpress International the company is waiting for the approval from the province's People's Committee to bring South Korean and Japanese tourists to the central province via charter flights on Nov. 11.

"There would be one flight from South Korea's Incheon International Airport and another from Japan's Narita International Airport with each carrying around 222 passengers destined for Vinpearl Resort & Spa Long Beach on Cam Ranh Peninsula," he added.

Nghia said in the first phase the company is scheduled to operate three weekly flights from Japan and one from South Korea.

If everything goes smoothly, the company would expand to the Taiwanese market later this year.

Due to the impacts of winter, tourists from Japan and South Korea wish to visit Khanh Hoa to enjoy the warmth and play golf, he added.

The company also plans to cooperate with Russian carrier Siberia Airlines to organize six weekly charter flights for Russian tourists to stay at sequestered resorts on Long Beach, Cam Ranh from early December.

All tourists have been fully vaccinated and are required to furnish a negative Covid result obtained within 72 hours before departure.

Nghia added the firm is ready to welcome the return of foreign tourists after nearly two years of border closures and that all his staff have been fully vaccinated since last June.

Nguyen Thi Le Thanh, director of Khanh Hoa's tourism department, said the province has approved 12 resorts on Long Beach in Cam Ranh Peninsula to serve international tourists during the trial phase and that over 18,000 tourism staff have been fully vaccinated.

Khanh Hoa, home to Nha Trang and Cam Ranh beach tourist hotspots, is one of five localities that got the greenlight to allow in fully immunized foreign tourists from November along with Phu Quoc, Quang Nam, Quang Ninh and Da Nang.

Most travel firms and designated resorts in Khanh Hoa said they are ready for the return of foreign tourists.

Nguyen Huong Thuy, representative of Khanh Hoa-based travel company Anex Vietnam, which holds a 50 percent of market share of Russian tourists in Vietnam, said the company is eager to bring Russians to Nha Trang on their winter holiday later this year.

In 2019, the year before the onset of Covid, Khanh Hoa received over seven million tourists, half of them foreigners.

Vietnam closed its borders to foreign tourists and canceled all international flights in March last year.